Cape Kaliakra and our Bulgarian vignette

On our way along the Black Sea coast to the south, we finally reached Bulgaria on Friday evening, which greeted us with an anecdote: In Bulgaria, there is a toll obligation, which must be fulfilled in the form of vignettes. So, after the passport control, we dutifully stopped and wanted to buy a vignette at the designated booth. We didn't have Bulgarian money yet, but VISA makes it possible - 21st century and all that... or so we thought!

"No card. Only cash," said the friendly little officer. "Oh! Unfortunately, we don't have Bulgarian money yet." - "Euro or Romanian Lev?" - "No, we've spent everything. It doesn't help us here anymore. Where can we withdraw money?" - *Shrugging* - "...?..." - "Next, please."

Slightly confused, we drove to the nearest gas station, where vignettes are known to be sold at the border. They sold them there too, but also with "Only cash!" - "Well, where is the nearest ATM then?" *Shrugging* - "...?..." - "Try the next town, 5km away from here. Then just come back", said the friendly gas station operator.

So, we zoomed past farms to the next "town" and actually and unbelievably found a bank there. Well... rather a building with a bank's neon sign, but closed and dilapidated as a whole. On the other side of the street, sitting under big trees next to a small convenience store, was the Elders Council of the "town" and they were already giving us strange looks. Hmpf great... well, never mind: "Excuse me, where is the nearest money machine?" - *awkward silence and confused looks* - "ATM?" - "What is your main language?", asked the heaviest-looking person of all. - "German," I truthfully replied, and thus I was able to exchange my problem with Mr. Keno, the village teacher, using a multilingualist. Where else can you find qualified teaching staff if not in Bulgarian villages? As a result of this enlightening conversation, I had 20 Bulgarian levs in hand. Why? There was no ATM here, only in the "town" before, and it is uncertain whether it actually dispenses money at present. Furthermore, it is located on the premises of a gyro stand, which may already be closed at this time and thus we would have no access to the machine. If we were to continue further into the country, we would already pass through the first toll control and we would be faced with a three-digit fine for not having a valid vignette. And tomorrow is the weekend anyway, so no one works in Bulgaria, and the stand accordingly as well. So, we could actually only try it quickly at the hopefully still open gyro ATM. In case this (completely unexpectedly) should not work, Mr. Keno simply loaned us the necessary money in his hospitality and asked for it to be returned as a matter of course.

Okay - then, as soon as possible to the gyro stand. Of course, it had already closed, but the premises were still open and - praise the lord - we were even able to withdraw our own Bulgarian levs. So now, finally, to the gas station to buy this damn vignette. Then all my nerves were torn apart there. The gas station operator sat in front of the entrance door and asked me to wait for just five minutes, because there was a woman counting money behind the counter in the store. Exactly after these five minutes, the gas station operator got into his car and drove off. "...?..." + *Shrugging*. So now I only go to the gas station counter after the desired waiting time, proudly place my levs on the counter with the widest grin and order "a vignette, please." The busty woman on the other side looked at me and shook her head: "No! Finish!" 8 pm. Cash desk closed....... Laugh? Cry? Smash everything to pieces? So many tempting options went through my head. I settled for the first one...

Clearly exhausted, we drove back to the border (back to the roots) to finally purchase our vignette there. As a reward for surviving these insane actions, Anne was kissed by a little toothless grandpa during the inevitable trip to the restroom at the border. Fleeing, we drove back to Mr. Keno and returned his loan, ordered his favorite drink as a token of gratitude, and then sat together (you don't drink alone) with generously poured vodka for an hour in the circle of elders and were extensively informed about Bulgaria, God, and the world, until we finally managed to break free and found our parking spot for the night at the nearby beach.

We approached the next morning with much-needed relaxation and enjoyed the warm weather and the opportunity to go for a swim. Afterwards, we visited Cape Kaliakra, an important military-strategic point in the Black Sea since ancient times, as evidenced by numerous ruins and stories. Like those of the Bulgarian women who chose suicide rather than slavery after the region was conquered by the Ottomans.